Adopting the Fantasy Football Mindset in Your Climate Strategy

The first “Hail Mary” pass in football should have been universally celebrated as a moment in sports history and athleticism. Unfortunately, it wasn’t met with awe and adoration at the time. Instead, the lead official (aka. the head referee) had to be rushed to the hospital after a fan threw a glass whiskey bottle straight at his head. The pass had caused the winning team to lose, which caused an uproar in the stands.

The display of extreme behaviors due to team fandom isn’t anything new. Remember, gladiator fighting was a thing. #RomanEmpire. When it comes to fandom, unconscious or even defiantly conscious bias can be hidden under the veil of “loyalty.” These extreme displays of “loyalty” are often misconstrued to prove our dedication to our community and personal identity.

This dangerous display of “camaraderie” exists in the climate industry as well. The “one team and one team only” mentality in sustainability is causing extreme harm to our ability to prevent catastrophic climate change. Because of that ineffectiveness, I am here to propose a change for the better. Let’s look at climate solutions through the lens of fantasy football.

Whether you are a fair-weather fan or have an exclusive allegiance to one type of climate solution, you may find yourself prioritizing a sustainability method over the overarching goal - winning. Your support is selective, and your favoritism may cloud your judgement so much that you are no longer giving yourself the best chance to win. Achieving a healthy climate outcome for all requires a multi-solution approach. It isn’t relying on your flex wide receiver to catch a 60-yard touchdown pass every week. It also isn’t relying on your running backs to go off against tough defenses, even though that seems to happen to the best of us at the most inopportune times. The best outcomes in both fantasy football and climate come from taking a holistic approach towards winning.

Let’s take planting trees, for example. Planting trees can yield a steady return, much like a kicker, but they won’t often lead your team in points. You won't win if you build your entire strategy around a really great kicker because one solution won’t save us all. It’s time to fall in love with the sport of climate solutions. Rather than only rooting for our favorites, let’s take the fantasy football approach to the climate security sport all up.

Research Over Region

Creating your fantasy football team requires a specific level of strategy and research. The same goes for climate action.

If you want to research your way to create the winning fantasy climate team, do the following:

• Regularly follow reputable news sources for updates on injuries, trades, and other relevant news that may stand between you and collecting climate impact points. Reputable experts can provide rankings, sleepers not meeting expectations, and strategic advice to make sure you are playing the best of the best and who may need to be benched. Sources include: Project Drawdown | Table of Solutions, Project Drawdown | Get Involved, Ranking Carbon Offsets for Organizational Buyers, and Giving Green | Carbon offsets and carbon removals research.
• Utilize climate-specific applications that provide real-time updates on statuses and performance trends. Applications include: En-ROADS Climate Action Simulator, CoolClimate Emissions Calculator, and Project Drawdown | "Emergency Break" Climate Solutions to Support.
• Consider subscribing to podcasts or following experts on social media for real-time updates and discussions. Content and influencers include: For What It's Earth Podcast, How to Save a Planet Podcast, Katharine Hayhoe | LinkedIn, and Rewriting Extinction (@rewritingextinction).

Understand the Scoring

After you have done all the research, you need to understand the way that specific solutions impact climate today. For example, you may love a specific solution, but it isn’t scalable or requires so much funding that it won’t go into effect until it’s too late.

If you want to win the game against climate change, do the following:

• Review statistics to identify consistent performers and potential breakout candidates. Understand these statistics to then assess efficiency and performance in specific situations. For example, emergency break climate actions like preventing deforestation from reputable sources (check out projects in Brazil and Indonesia from high-quality project developers), refrigerant destruction, plugging orphaned oil and gas wells, and eliminating food waste all perform well in the red zone. And we are currently in the red zone. By dedicating significant funding to these “emergency break” climate efforts, you will gain huge points and meaningful impact.
• Adjust your strategy based on whether your climate league is standard, like points per reception, or has other custom scoring settings. For example, are you solely looking for the highest level of environmental impact or is your priority to positively impact a community? Or maybe both! Either way, leverage resources like the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, Carbon Credits and the Sustainable Development Goals: Aligning Climate Action with Global Priorities, and American Carbon Registry (column “Sustainability Goals”) to help you understand the co-benefits associated with solutions you are supporting.
• Leverage tools and software that provide insights, projections, and analysis to aid in decision-making. Data-driven platforms like Persefoni and Microsoft Sustainability Manager offer statistical models and algorithms to help optimize your climate action team roster and measure your performance.

Remain Open to Feedback and Have Fun

What makes a reliable climate quarterback is different from a circumstantial climate quarterback. Permanent and quantifiable impact, creating new benefits, the ability to scale quickly, and the level of financial necessity all play a part in how effective each of your players will be on your climate team. Some climate players may vary in how they rank in these specific categories, which is why you have built a team of players that can collectively help you reach your goal.

If you want to remain receptive, while also enjoying your impact along the way, do the following:

• Consider the playoff schedule when making draft decisions. Consider how your climate portfolio is built and how the various solutions you are investing in can complement one another. For instance, funding a refrigerant destruction project will generate immediate results. By combining it with a solution like reforestation, you are tackling both immediate and long-term climate solutions simultaneously. Smart, right?!
• Stay up to date on emerging trends, such as changes in offensive schemes, policy adjustments, and collective performances. Adjust your strategy based on these ever-evolving trends and developments throughout the season. Game day decisions are encouraged as long as they are based on education, data, and strategy!
• Participate in forums, online communities, and social media groups to exchange ideas, discuss strategies, and get advice from other enthusiasts. Normalizing the conversation and recognizing the complexity in climate action will help us all perform better. Be proud of your successes, setbacks, and learnings because that means you are out there playing the game!

Fantasy climate football is both an art and a science, and finding the right strategy often involves a combination of research and adaptability. This approach makes the sport of climate impact more exciting and effective. We no longer have to be desperately dependent on one star player to make our team great, so let’s relish that freedom. Climate impact can be a fun and challenging puzzle rather than an exclusive commitment. Toss that football further down the climate impact field and show us how you can Pete Carroll your way towards climate success! See you at the goal line!